Safety-clutch for starting gas-engines.



No. 896,451. PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908. W. s. JONES. SAFETY GLUTGH FOR STARTING GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT ornron .WALTER- s. JONES, OF PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT SAFETY-CLUTCH FOR STARTING GAS-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

Application filed August so, 1905. serial No. 276,464.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that l, WALTER S. Jones, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at Plainville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Safety-Clutches forStarting :ras-Engines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Myinv'ention relates to improvements in safety clutches for the starting devices of gas, gasolene, oil, combustion or explosive engines, or motors and the object of my improvement is to provide a frictional device for starting the motor which will allow the motor to revolve backward without any backward movement of the crank, and to thereby protect the operator from injury.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a broken plan view of my safety clutch,

together with so much of a motor .as is.

deemed necessary to show its; connection therewith. Fig.2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line tax of Fig. 2, with a small por' tion sectioned on a lowerplane. Fig. 4 is a plan view illustrating my safety ,clutch'in.

a modified form. Fig. 5 is a sectionalplan of parts of the same, the plane of section extending centrally and horizontally through the axis of the clutch.

A, designates a ortion ofa frame within which one'end of th 6 is mounted in any ordinary manner. This shaft is the one that is turned to start the" engine or motor. It is turned in the direc-;

tion intended for the said shaft in driving the engine forwardly." In some cases, the engine or motor may start suddenly backe wards with great force, in which case the operator may lose control of the starting crank and be injured thereby.

Upon the outer end of theshaft 6 a. clutch jmember=7 is rigidly formed or afl'lxed'so-as to rotate with the said shaft. Loosely mounted on the same shaft or so as'to be slippedthereon when desired, is a sleeve 8 bearing the com anion clutch member 9 at its inner end. he periphery of this sleeve constitutes a cylind ical friction surface for rotating the shaft forwardly. A vrank 10.

illustrated as broken off, is provided with a yielding split hub 11 and ad usting or Clamp screw 12, and is mounted on the said sleeve so as to" be held thereon by friction and to drive the said sleeve with it until the res stance to the forward motion of the slee e e starting or motor shaft.

- overcomes the friction of the crankhub on the said sleeve. This crank hub constitutes a tubular friction de'vicewhich is mounted on the aforesaid cylindrical friction surface. The said'sleeve 8 has also mounted thereon a ratchet wheel 13 that lies between the In order to start the engine the crank with 1 connected sleeve, ratchet wheel, and clutch member, is slipped upon the outer end of the shaft 6 far enough to bring theclutch members into engagement as shown in Fig. 1. By means of .the adjusting or clamping screw 2, the friction of the crank hub on the sleeve maybe so adjusted that turning the crank in "the proper direction will also turn the sleeve and clutch so as to drive the starting shaft 6 and start the engine. nected parts may be removed and the engine ermitte'd' town as long as may be desired. lf'howeve'r, instead of the engine being started in. the proper direction, the engine should suddenly start in .the reverse direction when The crank andconthe clutch is in'gear, a backward movement of the'cra'nk wi be prevented by'the pawl which will holdthe ratchet wheel and connected crank frommov'ing backwardlywhile the frictionconnection of the crank hub and sleeve will permit the shaft, the clutch, and the sleeve, toturn backwardl 'within' the crank hub while th'ecrank is thus held against such backward movement, whereby v the 'o orator is not liable tolbe hit or injured by a ackwardly moving crank. .In-the modification, Fi s. 4 and 5, the side of the frame is indicated y the line- A, Fig.

4. The shaft 6*is the-startin shaft having collars 16 and 17 Between t ese collars on the said shaft, a split or two-part sleeve 8 is. mounted, having a clutch member 9 and ratchet wheel 13 both'fo'rmed inte al with the two parts of the said sleeve. T e crank 109 and crank hub 11-1 ,are formed integral with the companion clutch member 7 and may heslipped loosely on or off the shaft 6 as shown respectively in Figs. 4 and 5. The two arts of the combined sleeve, clutch mem or, and: ratchet wheel, are held-together on the shaft 6 by means of screws 12 which also serve to adjust the friction of the said sleeve on the shaft. In this'modification, that ortion of the starting shaft that is between t e collars 1.6 and 17' is the. cylin-- drical friction surface for rotating forwardly with the crank, and the two part sleeve is the tubular friction device that is mounted thereon. moving backwardly by means of the pawl as in the construction first described. The

- operation of this modified constructionis the It is apparent that some'chang'es, from the specific construction herein disclosedmay be made and therefore 'I donot wish to be un derstood as limiting myself to the precise form of construction shown and described,

but desire the liberty to make such changes, I in working my invention as'may fairly come within the spirit and scope of the same.i-

I claim as my invention 2+ 1. In a starting device for motors, the

combination of a starting shaft with a pair of The ratchet wheel is held against clutch members fordriving the said'shaft forwardly, a starting crank connected with one of the said clutch members, a cylindrical friction surface for-rotating forwardly with the said shaft, a tubular friction device mounted on the said cylindrical-friction sur without the crank, and means for continu ally binding the said tubular friction device upon the said cylindrical friction surface, to

regulate the degree offriction that is constantlIy exerted thereby.

" a starting device for motors,'the combination of a starting shaft with atwo part clutch, a sleeve with one part of the said:

clutch connected therewith, a crank having a split hub mounted on the said sleeve in frictional contact therewith, means for ad- 'justing' the degree'of friction between the said hub and sleeve, a ratchet wheel rigidly i connected with the said split hub of the crank and a pawl actingon the said ratchet wheel to'hold the said split hub against moving backwardly during a backward motion of the said shaft and sleeve.

WALTER SQJONES.

Witnesses: i

I-JAME'S SHEPARD,

SHEFFIELD'H. CLARKE.

- face .for carrying the shaft forwardly with the crank against a given load and then permit- 40- ting theshaft to stop or turn backwardly; 

